GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Race continues to be a central factor in school suspensions and expulsions, according to Russell Skiba, an expert in disproportionality in school discipline, coming to Grand Rapids.

"Over 50 years since Brown v. Board of Education, the over-representation of African
American students in suspension and expulsion remains as one of the most serious areas
of inequity in education," reads the flier for the "Race is not neutral: Addressing Disproportionality In School Discipline" workshop planned for Kent County school officials.

Skiba will conduct the professional development session organized by the Kent Intermediate School District on Oct. 18. The director of the Equity Project at Indiana University, a consortium of research projects aimed at addressing issues regarding educational equity, says the talk is timely for some districts.

Skiba's session is supposed to present information on "what we know about disproportionality in school discipline, and discuss important components for schools and school districts in addressing racial disparities."

Grand Rapids, Forest Hills, Kentwood, Grandville, Wyoming, Godwin Heights and Godfrey-Lee were the districts called to Lansing along with others around the state. School districts cited by the state for having significant disproportionality are required to reallocate 15 percent of its federal IDEA (Individuals with Disability Education Act) funds for early intervention services, programs to prevent high rates of suspension and expulsion.

For the past three school years, Grand Rapids and Kentwood have been cited. All seven districts have efforts underway to address the issue and considering others. They will be notified in August if more focused monitoring by the state is necessary.

Skiba, who is also a professor in counseling and educational psychology at Indiana, said the type of misbehavior, student characteristics including race and socioeconomic status, and school characteristics, such as a principal's views on school discipline, all predict which students will be suspended or expelled.

“If we really wish to make a difference in reducing racial and ethnic disparities in suspension and expulsion, these findings suggest that we would do better reflecting upon school policies and practices than focusing on characteristics of students or their behavior," Skiba said in a release about the study released in the spring.

Below are are some of the study's findings:

• After controlling for both poverty and the seriousness of behavior, black students remain 1.5 times more likely than white students to receive an out-of-school suspension.

• Students in schools with higher proportions of black students are almost 6 times more likely to receive an out-of-school suspension.

• Students in schools where a principal supports preventive alternatives to suspension are 30 percent less likely to receive an out-of-school suspension, and more than 50 percent less likely to receive an expulsion.

"Effectiveness in addressing issues involving race and culture is dependent upon our ability to directly address those issues," reads the flier for Skiba's three hour session.

Email:mscott2@mlive.com and follow her on Twitter at Twitter.com/GRPScotty.